Thursday, March 22, 2012

You heard me, leave the office and GO HOME!

I just read a brilliant piece about why we should leave work when we are supposed to, and not stay those extra hours. The gist of the article is basically that working over time doesn't really mean you're getting more work done. We need rest to stay focused and creative. True story, true story.

This semester, I have the best possible schedule. I am working Monday through Thursday, 8:30am-5:30pm. Every other Friday, I meet with my classmates for a seminar, where our professor continuously educates us in American culture, history, what have you and encourages us to keep up the good work at our internships.

Basically, I have a four day work week. Absolutely perfect. Even though I like working and being busy, I enjoy this period – after reading the previously mentioned article with a little less guilty feelings of admitting that an extra day off every other week is kind of neat. Who knows when it will ever happen again? Probably never, since we live in a real world of 55-hour-week-working-people.

That being said, tomorrow I'll be at the office even though it's Friday, since I'm taking a day off next week when I will have visitors in town. But as the article suggests, I will do my job when I'm there and make sure to leave on time. Also, I believe most workplaces have lunch breaks for a reason. People, realize that we need that short period of time in the middle of the day to re-energize; with food and possibly some leisure reading.


1 comment:

  1. I have heard this theory before. I believe it has some validity but I also think it also depends on the person. Take me for example, it takes me about an hour or so in the mornings to get my mind mentally in the work mood. The afternoons are a different story. I can get much more work done between 2:30-5:00 than I can from 8:30-10:00.

    As for being an intern, I love the flexibility of the hours. When I was an intern, I only worked 20hrs/week. I would normally do 4hrs/day each day of the work week, but sometimes I would do 8hrs on Monday & Tuesday and 8-12 on Wednesdays. Then the following week I would work 12-4 on Wednesday and 8hrs on Thursday & Friday. It was great to have a week off!

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